Joji’s Extravaganza: The Inventive and Awkward State of Music Performance in 2020

In a time where large social gatherings like music concerts have been reduced to a mere memory, artists have been forced to explore new ways to engage with their fans. The task of replicating the visceral, emotional, and physical experience of live music is not an easy one. Some simply carry out their normal setlist backdropped to LCD screens, like Lil Uzi Vert and Amine, and some create fully immersive and extravagant visual experiences, like Travis Scott and Billie Eilish. With these new forms of musical expression there is no standard and artists will have to think outside the box in order to compete for an audience with streaming giants. And no other artists seemed to be better equipped to engage a digital audience than the first YouTuber-turned-musician, Joji. He announced on his socials his one-night-only ticketed livestream event, The Extravaganza, to celebrate the release of his sophomore studio album, Nectar. He promised performance of the new songs alongside circus themed skits, directed by the artist himself. The show is a first step, inventive and at times awkward, into the reality of music performance in 2020.

Joji, the Austrailian-Japanese crooner George Miller signed to 88Rising, first emerged into prominence with his 2x Platinum 2018 ballad, “Slow Dancing In The Dark.”  In the music video we are introduced to the artists entertaining and perplexing creative vision as he, a tuxedo wearing faun (half-human, half-goat), walks lonely city streets impaled by an arrow and gushing blood. For those of us who spent our formative years taking a deep dive into the endless content of YouTube, we may recognize Joji under other monikers: Filthy Frank and Pink Guy. His now retired channel, TVFilthyFrank,  has just over 7.5 million subscribers and featured absurd skits and satirical songs, often infused with spontaneous shrieks and pink spandex onesies. With this in mind, a livestream performance with skits from Joji seems to be quite the enticing at-home experience. 

The Extravaganza debuted on October 23, opening with a brief monologue from Joji, the experience was very much on brand — awkward, inventive, and intriguing. The first song was his 2019 single “Sanctuary,” wearing a money suit and perched atop a dunk tank, he couldn’t withhold his laughter as the baseballs neared the dunk button. His next song, “Attention,” sees him horsing around in a horse suit for just that and following, “Mr. Hollywood,” sees him settle down to a standstill in a suit and sunglasses for the emotional piece. By now, the audience knows each set is unpredictable and they should expect the unexpected. 

These creative performances were periodically interrupted with introductions of an interesting supporting cast, including a magician, an opera singer, a piano playing inanimate scarecrow, and even a Ryan Seacrest look-alike. At multiple times this Bachelor doppelganger forces Joji to drop everything to say he is out of their budget. While they’re good to break up the setlist for a breather, they do come off a bit dry. Those who came to hear their favorite songs must first sit through a couple minutes of an opera performance and a basic magician’s card tricks and spoon bending. Not exactly the most engaging content and certainly not something that would be found on TVFilthyFrank — these moments are cut with awkward and deadpan reactions from Joji. Nonetheless, it was not intended to be the main content of the event.

At its best, The Extravaganza shows entertaining live performances of Joji’s new music in hilarious circumstances. Before performing the opener to Nectar, “Ew,” he is seen tattooing a messy star onto a person's arm. He then leaves the studio for the parking lot at dusk to sing “Upgrade,” as people swerve and pop wheelies around him on ATVs and motocross bikes. During the performance of the album’s closer, “Your Man,” what first appeared to be a DJ set turns out to actually be Joji practicing his culinary skills by making an omelette. My favorite moment from the experience was by far his performance of the single “Run,” which opens with a quick and playful game of the-floor-is-lava and transitions to Joji running on a treadmill to finish the song. Wearing a tuxedo and drenched in sweat, he struggles to finish the song as the treadmill steadily increases in speed. Not every song has a funny catch to it however, some cuts bring the attention to Joji’s vocal performance as he walks around an LCD backdrop.

The show concludes with a performance of his biggest song, “Slow Dancing In The Dark,” dressed in a tuxedo and maintaining laser eye contact. After this, Joji walks out of the curtains to thank the viewers for attending, behind him is the supporting cast, a crewmember hands him a control box that releases confetti, everyone smiles. Suddenly, Joji drives a knife into the heart of the crewmember and races out of the soundstage in a sprint — cutting to technical difficulties screen, the livestream ends. While abrupt, this ending is the most on-brand for Joji. For a $17 ticket price, The Extravaganza is an entertaining way to spend your Friday night for those who enjoy his artistry and deadpan humor. Rough around the edges, it is a starting point for artists to provide an accessible source of engagement. Under the current CDC guidelines, we may not see live concerts return until late next year at the earliest so artists need to be ever more creative to maintain relevancy and stay afloat. Livestream performances have massive untapped potential, while we're not at the apex yet, we are getting closer and closer. It can become a whole new medium for music to reach a wider audience, where they can create immersive worlds for their fans to occupy. This is made even more possible with the rising popularity of virtual and augmented reality technologies, it all depends on artists willing to explore new frontiers. For now, support your favorite artists and attend their virtual events — more importantly support music venues that are struggling to stay afloat so we may return to the visceral and physical experiences of concerts one day.